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Saturday, 30 January 2010

I have always had mixed feelings about DOLLHOUSE. I saw moments of brilliance and some utter rubbish that didn't work in any way, shape or form. The standout thing about DOLLHOUSE however was when it was good, it was a masterpiece....shame Mr Wheedon has yet to do this consistently through one of his projects.

What about BUFFY I hear you cry.....Have you actually watched the first few seasons of Buffy recently? No? Well you will see a series that was very much a run of the mill, monster of the week, not really going anywhere series. Only when the main story arc kicked in and we started seeing Glory, Angel, Spike and the other serious powerhouses pop up did we see what a great show that it would turn into. I guess BUFFY suffers from the same problem as STAR TREK (pic any incarnation you want) They all have their fan base that will defend them to the death, claiming that they are the best series in the world and that there was never any crap episodes and they were all masterpieces............in reality the first few seasons on TNG, DS9 and even the original trek were just planet of the week, singular episodes that didn't really go anywhere past maybe a 2 or 3 part arc.

The massive arcs that sculpt the characters and world around them are what make these series really come to life.......Dominion war anyone??? That's when DS9 became the best TREK EVER!!!!!!!!!!! You know it's true.

So have we worked out the problem with Wheedon then? He doesn't set the world, the characters, and the direction of the show quick enough? Or do we just not all get the quirky and odd-ball way that he tells a story?May be, but you can't help loving most of his creations...Mal Reynolds is an idiot, bully, rogue but you know you all still have a soft spot for him!!

Somehow I don't think we will ever know, because no one ever seems to let him finish his projects and bring them to a conclusion....although at least we got some closure for FIREFLY with SERENITY (which I will always hail as one of my all time favourite shows and movies - Bravo for that one Joss) and to some extent we have that for DOLLHOUSE with the finale EPITAPH 2: Return.

To be totally honest I never really had the heart to watch DOLLHOUSE'S second season with any regularity...I had already watched the first 2 episodes just as the news came out that it had been binned before it found its feet...so I kinda just had my own little DOLLHOUSE themed wake and drank a farewell to it before I got too attached. That said I couldn't help coming back to see what they would do with EPITAPH 2....I loved the "lost" episode that was never aired and the fact that Joss, all of a sudden, seemed to have a game plan and a direction for the series. It was nothing short of a master stroke of genius....turn the tech that made people into slaves, and turn the world into zombie like creatures that could be worn like suits for the powerful. Awesome. I just wanted to see that world again and see Joss as the genius that we all know he can be, but struggles to convince some people of.

The episode was action packed, moving, and tied up the loose ends which should have been developed on should we have seen season 3-5 of the show......I can see why Joss ended it with EPITAPH. i'm sure he was thinking "Hell If I can't tell the story from start to finish, well, I'll cut straight to the chase and show you the action packed finale, and you can see what you missed out on!"

Good show, Joss, good show.

Now I'm not one for crying at the TV....that's KW's thing....but I felt a tear well up when the bullet thumped into Ballard's forehead......when Echo finally admitted her feelings for him, and when Sierra and Victor made their peace with themselves. And Topher....well lets just say I'm sure he always wanted to go out with a bang.

The fact the show gave us a glimpse of what could have been, well it just leaves me with an empty hole inside which I want to fill with more DOLLHOUSE....the potential of the show was outweighed by the money worries of the network, some stiff competition with other outstanding shows on the air, and some slow and laboured episodes that just couldn't match the pace of today's audience.

It's a shame, because we've been subjected to some massive piles of shite over the years that never should have made it past a pilot.....Andromeda, you know I'm talking about you!!!!!!! Now that we have some heart, soul, and some real talent in a show, it just seems a shame to knock it down and end it before it's prime.

The big questions is, should it have been given more of a chance? Yes. Should FOX have put more effort it marketing the show and building the audience? Most definatley. Who's fault is it that the show failed? Well we all know the answer to that one.......don't we FOX!!!!!!

DOLLHOUSE I'll miss you and I'm sure there are some die-hard fans that will too. Back to the web to stream the episodes that I missed....we'll always have re-runs.

Wednesday, 27 January 2010

Wanna know what SHERLOCK HOLMES is like? It's bloody awesome....Mr Richie I think you've finally made up for the massive shite that REVOLVER turned out to be.

DOWNEY JR is awesome as usual, and even Jude (I can't keep it in my pants) LAW is pretty good. The action is well shot and thoughtfully put into motion, and the characters are so well written that you love them from the first second you see them on screen.

It's funny, gritty, hardcore, and emotional all in the same 2 hours....not an easy thing to do.

It seems that DOWNEY JR can't miss these days....and fingers crossed we'll see more of this crazy, slightly unstable, but lovable HOLMES....apparently a series is planned.....good, loved every minute of it.

What makes a movie great? Any idea? well next time you watch a movie let your ears make the decision............yeah, you've guessed it. The music always makes the film more memorable. Whether it's the blasting urban sounds in the FAST AND FURIOUS series, the thunderous orchestra from Hanns Zimmer for PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, or Michael Giacchino's new score for 2009's Star trek - it's all about the music.

And the theme continues with the IRON MAN movies. I get the feeling that Jon Favreau loves ACDC.....first we get the best opening for a movie in ages as ACDC blasts out BACK TO BLACK as Tony Stark drives across the desert in a Humvee....but now we have another quality tune (Shoot to thrill) to accompany the new movie trailer....and apparently the soundtrack features somewhere in the region of 15 ACDC tracks.......nowt wrong with that.

Saturday, 23 January 2010

What did I say? Jason Momoa was the best choice for the Conan reboot and look what went and happened... He got the part.

Yes Stargate Atlantis fans rejoice as your favourite manly sci-fi character has now found himself an even manlier job as the worlds most famous muscle bound, head-splitting, Cimmerian "Conan the Barbarian", beating a handful of other, totally inappropriate and rather weaker looking, hopefuls.

Now we just have to sit back and wait for the news and pics to come flooding in and see if this will be as awful as I think it will be or if I'll be wrong...

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Presented here for your boredom enlightening entertainment are 109 "Holy's" exclaimed by Robin in the first season of the 60's Batman t.v. series.

Whoever thought that repeatedly using this phrase every episode was funny either didn't like actor Burt Ward or was as screwed up in the head as The Joker... Either way someone thought it apt to blend the first seasons annoying list all together into one vid.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who hasn't heard about this new Thor animated movie which is due for release on Bluray and DVD in 2011 but having just watched the trailer I'm actually not surprised... It doesn't look that good unfortunately!

Maybe it's meant to be a precursor to the Thor movie due to the fact that it portrays Thor and Loki as children/ teens rather than the characters we know from the Marvel universe, or maybe Marvel are just trying to aim this towards a younger audience to grow their fanbase. Either way it's not my cup of tea, but it may be yours.

OK, so maybe it's not "Woo Hoo" worthy, but it's at least "woo" worthy. Here's a new trailer for Smallville's upcoming t.v. movie event "Absolute Justice" and this time we get a closer look at the display cabinet showing Wildcat, Green Lantern and The Flash's mementos, the big painting of the full JSA team showing the other members not in the episode and a closeup of Michael Shanks in his Hawkman mask/ helmet.

The Office, Life on Mars and even Red Dwarf are just a few of the U.K t.v. shows that have had American version made in the past (even if some didn't get past the pilot stage) and now it seems that Dr. Who's more adult spin off series "Torchwood" might get the star spangled banner treatment too.

"Bad news with some good news: Fox—the TV network that killed Firefly and Dollhouse and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles—is developing a U.S. version of the hit Doctor Who spin off series Torchwood.

The good news is: Doctor Who revitalizer and Torchwood creator Russell T Davies is writing the script for the pilot. And Capt. Jack Harkness himself—John Barrowman—might star!

How bad can it be?

Here's how The Hollywood Reporter's Live Feed blog reported it:

Unlike U.S. adaptations that have gone awry, Torchwood fans can take comfort that the original producing team is on board. In addition to Davies, exec producers include Davies' producing partner Julie Gardner (former head of drama at BBC Wales for the shows first season) and Jane Tranter (another BBC vet, now exec VP programming and production at BBC Worldwide Prods. in the U.S.).

Also, some of the current cast—most likely John Barrowman, who plays the immortal Capt. Jack Harkness—might star if Fox orders Torchwood to pilot.

The story goes on to say that the U.S. version would be more globally focused, with stories that go beyond the more localized stories of the original, which centered on Cardiff, Wales, and the United Kingdom."

I can't say that I feel this is a good idea but it'll be interesting to see just what comes out of a U.S version, especially as people like Gwen, Ianto, Tosh etc won't be played by their English (or Welsh) actors... If indeed they do keep those characters at all. One thing's for sure, the Americans will never ever top 'Children of Earth' with anything they produce!

Who would have thought that back in 2002 when little Miss Cheryl Tweedy appeared on Popstars: The Rivals she'd become one of the U.K's biggest exports and one of the world's most popular women?

Well I did for one! The second she auditioned for the show I said to the missus that she was gorgeous and would have to be in that band no matter what... And look where she is now, leading Girls Aloud to one number one hit after another, married to a stinking rich footballer, friends with famous people from around the globe, the most popular judge and winner for the last two years on X-Factor, and now she's been voted the most photogenic woman in history...

Yes that's right, our very own Mrs. Cole beat the likes of runner up Audrey Hepburn and third place rival Angelina Jolie to take home the title. Nikon conducted the survey by asking 4000 women who they though the most photogenic woman in the world was and Cheryl won out. Although I agree that Cheryl is absolutely stunning in every sense of the word I'm a little shocked that woman like Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie fell by the wayside in this category, but then when you look at the photos that have been taken of her over the last few years you can't deny that every single one shows off her supernova level hottness and beauty and she's never once looked anything other than perfect.

Marc Webb, whose work includes the critically acclaimed hit romance "(500) Days of Summer," will direct the fourth movie in the billion-dollar film franchise, which is expected in theaters in 2012, Columbia Pictures said on Tuesday.

Webb replaces Sam Raimi at the helm of the movie series that has raked in $2.5 billion worldwide at theaters since 2002.

Earlier this month, the studio said it wanted to turn a "new chapter" in the movies and take the Marvel comic-book crime fighter's alter ego, Peter Parker, back to high school.

Raimi and actor Tobey Maguire, who had portrayed Parker/Spider-Man, bowed out of the production, paving the way for a new director and star, who has yet to be named.

I don't think I've ever watched any of Webb's movies but it'll be good to see what kind of direction the Spidy movies now take and what villains we'll see going forward.

Another Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths trailer has been released and this time it's an action-packed 47 second clip from a battle between the Justice League and the Crime Syndicate. This still looks set to be the best DC animated movie since Green Lantern: First Flight and I can't wait to see it!

I'll tell you all straight away that although I do watch reality t.v. programmes like I'm a Celeb and X-Factor on UK t.v. I have never watched a single episode of MTV's "The Hills". I do however know of the cast and in particular Audrina Partridge, one of my favourite brunettes of all time, and Heidi Montag, one of my favourite blondes of all time... Most people who also know of Heidi, or watch The Hills, will probably be wondering why the hell I'd like her at all, and I can definitely agree that from the little I've seen of her on t.v. she's got a personality that would make an Angel want to top himself if he spoke to her for more than a minute, but she is (or was) undeniably gorgeous.

Unfortunately the minute she went under the knife for her first plastic surgery the 23 year old lost a lot of her original cuteness and natural beauty and started to look like a living Barbie doll, and I lost my original interest in her. Yesterday I got a new shock to the system by seeing what she'd done to herself back in November 2009... Heidi underwent 10 surgeries in 1 day altering herself almost completely from the hottie she used to be into what can only be described as a 40 year old Swedish pornstar who stars in Milfhunter movies... Why the hell did she do this, it's completely crazy? But that's the insecure U.S. rich-b***h mentality it seems she has. Damned shame.

Check the pics below to see what Heidi used to look like and her evolution into the blow up sex doll she's now become.

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

As a certified geek I'm always impressed by the high quality stuff that surfaces from the fan community. Occasionally you'll get an awesome fan made trailer, a mini-movie, a script or digital artwork which will simply blow you away.

Recently we've seen a number of Ryan Reynolds/ Green Lantern pictures across the web, designed by some of the talented fans out there, but I have to say that the poster below is the best of the bunch so far. Even the Thor poster looks pretty sweet in its simplicity. It makes you wonder whether the real movie posters that get released in the future will be anywhere near as good as these!

I only wish I had half a grain of the talent these guys do! Bravo fanboys, bravo.

Monday, 18 January 2010

So it's safe to say that just about every comic book fan on the planet is now looking forward to Martin Campbell's upcoming DC live action movie "Green Lantern" and it's also safe to say that everyone's pretty happy that Ryan Reynolds was chosen to play Hal Jordan.

If you're a die-hard fan of the Green Lantern comics you'll also be happy to know that supporting character Kilowog is a 100% confirmed shoe-in and that Sinestro will indeed appear. What you'll probably be more shocked about is that Sinestro will probably not be the main villain in the movie.

Peter Sarsgaard is in talks to play villain Dr. Hector Hammond, a character who is infused with psychic powers when he encounters a meteor (and grows a big head!). Hammond will be the main villain in the first film which looks to be following Geoff Johns Green Lantern: Secret Origin comic, leaving room for both Sinestro and Carol Ferris (Blake Lively) to play the villains in the possible sequels (as they are in the comic continuity). The rumour came from director Campbell himself who said during at interview that expectations towards Sinestro may be a little pre-emptive for the first movie...

A lot of rumours have been floating around the web over the last month or so that Jackie Earl Haley (Watchmen and Friday The 13th remake) was the top choice for the part of Sinestro but now it seems Sherlock Holmes and RocknRolla actor Mark Strong may well be taking the role instead. So far there are no solid confirmations on the casting but the rumours keep on coming!

Recently I posted about a rather screwed up French video from a show where loads of dancers dressed up in C3-P0 and Darth Vader costumes and pranced around psychedelically for no apparent reason... It was mind-trippingly uncool and sullied my love for the Star Wars franchise with its mindless ineptitude.

Well after that I discovered that there was a Burlesque show in L.A. recently that used the Star Wars universe as its theme. What will they think of next?!

This is from Laweekly.com:

"Downtown club Bordello temporarily transformed itself into Mos EisleyCantina for a night of Tatooine-styled shenanigans helmed by Devil's Playground. Star Wars Burlesque reimagined a host of beloved characters from the film series -- from the sexy to the androgynous to the grotesque -- as scantily clad female performers, with locals "On Blast" assuming the role of cantina band. Check out the cast of characters below".

You can read the full story along with the character descriptions and names of each dancer HERE. It's worth noting that the Jabba performer is actually a hot girl who bursts out of a balloon filled Hutt costume... If that wasn't the case I'd be a little worried. Jabba The Hutt as a Burlesque dancer is not my idea of fun. Female Stormtroopers and Slave Leia? Completely different ball park!!!

Avpgalaxy.net put up some on-set images from the new Predators movie on their site this week showing not only the actors and director (Nimrod Antal) but also the Predators themselves!

In the pics below you can see Topher Grace, Adrian Brody, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali and OlegTaktarov. You'll also notice that most initial fears have been put to rest with the continued inclusion of Ray Winston's original Predator designs, both in and out of the masks (if in doubt check out the background in the last 3 pics). There was a worry that their design would be completely altered but it just looks like the tribal outfits and face masks they're sporting are only a little different to what we've seen before. Under the mask they're the same and you can't mistake one for anything else.

Not really hyped about this one just yet, even though I love the first Predator movie and enjoyed the second one along with a passing enjoyment of the 2 AvP outings. The pictures help, but until I see a rockin trailer I'm on the fence.

What did we expect? I mean really, did we think a movie based on a fighting game would be Oscar material? No. Did we think it would be better than Mortal Kombat? Yes. D.O.A? Maybe (hot chicks after all). But did we expect to vom into our mouths with utter disgust and gut wrenching disappointment when we watched the first trailer? Well, er... yeah I suppose. But either way, here it is, the first trailer for Tekken the Movie.

Even though I'm an obsessive Arnie fan and I used to watch Conan The Barbarian all the time when I was younger I'll admit that I'm not in the least bit interested in the proposed Conan movie remake. For some reason just the thought of it provokes images of a straight to DVD Beastmaster type affair, and personally I don't think anyone will ever come close to Arnie's natural perfection in the role. OK, so he couldn't really act, but he was Conan in every way on screen.

Director Marcus Nispel is on track to start the production by March 15 in Bulgaria—if they can find the right barbarian. So far only 3 names have been thrown into the mix and to me only one of them is an exciting prospect.

We have Supernatural's Jared Padalecki, Twilight's Kellan Lutz and my favourite for the role; Stargate Atlantis' Jason Momoa... I'm thinking that although all 3 are way too skinny to play Conan to any believable degree, even though all three are sickeningly ripped, with a little hard-arsed body building to bulk him up Jason Momoa could be one cool Barbarian. Minus the Ronon Dex dreads of course.

Either way it feels wrong that a Conan remake is on it's way, it's like replacing Harrison Ford in his Indiana Jones role with Justin Timberlake... OK not quite, but you get what I mean.

Who's not looking forward to the A-Team movie? I mean c'mon, it's the frickin "A-TEAM"!

I absolutely loved the trailer that came out recently and even though a mate of mine told me the other night that he thought it was corny I have to point out that most of the A-Team t.v. series was corny and the movie (at least from what we've seen in the short trailer) looks pretty kick-ass.

Here we have another 3 posters from the upcoming Chris Columbus movie "Percy Jackson And The Olympians: The Lightning Thief". This time it's the three children of the gods; Percy, Annabeth and Grover perching themselves upon some moody looking scenery... Basic but they get the dark atmosphere the film will obviously have across well.